Super Shuttle or Disneyland Resort Express

[tigergrad]

Leaving for DLR on June 8th. Family of 6 - ages 11-40 something. We will fly into LAX around noon. We will need transportation to DLH. Looking for opinions on whether we should reserve Super Shuttle or Disneyland Express.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

My two cents:
We used Supershuttle - perhaps a bit harder to find the spot to meet the shuttle than the DL Ex (hard to miss the huge Greyhound bus with characters plastered all over it and DL EXPRESS in huge letters on the side! )
However, DL Ex drops off at a single bus stop on Harbour, wheras SS (supershuttle) drops off AT your hotel. SS can be a shared ride (vans seat 8) but with the size of your party you should only have 2, 3 stops at most.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the DL express stops at onsite hotels first, so if you are offsite, it can mean a long wait to get to your hotel while all the onsite guests unload at the 3 different onsite hotels.

I was very happy with supershuttle's service - prompt, friendly drivers, simple, easy transaction, even with having to install 3 carseats!!!

 

[DSNY4ever]

I have used Super Shuttle and it was fine. Mousesavers.com usually has a link to a coupon to save a couple of dollars per person.

 

[daisy_77]

Does super shuttle provide car seats?

 

[mo3bys]

When we used them in December they didn't provide car seats for kids.

 

[RaeRae's Mommy]

Does super shuttle provide car seats?

With DL EXPRESS you do not need Car Seats. It's why we are using DL EXPRESS with are DD3.

 

[lauritagoddess]

We have vouchers for the DL Express. Are reservations required?

 

[kiwitravel]

Leaving for DLR on June 8th. Family of 6 - ages 11-40 something. We will fly into LAX around noon. We will need transportation to DLH. Looking for opinions on whether we should reserve Super Shuttle or Disneyland Express.

We have always used DL express as it is quite a bit cheaper and I have heard of people having a really round about trip to Anaheim via Super Shuttle (including us on our first trip in the 80's) Obviously Super Shuttle want to fill their shuttle so you can have a bit of a delay as they drive round till they are full. Then you endup getting off the freeway and driving through residential areas as they make dropoffs.

DL Express does dropoff at DL Resort first and will then dropoff at offsite hotels with the hotels on Harbour across from DL being one of the last dropoff points and yes they drop you off at a Bus Stop and not at the actual hotels there as they don't have a turnaround. They do drop off to the door at HoJos and Fairfield though. The good news is that Harbour is one of the last Pickup points though, so you win some and you lose some...

Pickup is every half hour during the day falling to every hour after hours. Can be a long wait if you just miss a bus.

You don't need to book, bus is never completely full.

 

[aussiemickeys]

With Supershuttle you also have the option of booking a private van for yourselves (thus getting rid of all the extra stop offs for other people & getting you there much quicker). If you book before hand it is cheaper than just showing up at the airport & booking then. I haven't used the Airport bus for a while now, but from what I remember it was perfectly fine (although I much prefer the private van). For 6 people you would of course have to compare the costs first to see if it works for you. Don't forget to factor in the tips (which for the van is an expected 20%) & from what I can remember you are expected to tip the bus driver per person as well.
Also I don't think supershuttle is the only van service operating out of the airport, from memory I have seen a few others as well (but don't know the names sorry). Maybe it would be worth checking out the prices for these as well.

 

[jacky b]

With DL Express, you do not need reservations.

 

[lauritagoddess]

With DL Express, you do not need reservations.

Thanks.

 

[Judy from Boise]

with a party of six, I would look at something private.....even through a car service.

 

[kiwitravel]

Don't forget to factor in the tips (which for the van is an expected 20%) & from what I can remember you are expected to tip the bus driver per person as well.

I'm not an expert on tipping being a Kiwi and all, but my understanding is you tip the driver per bag. We had four bags and so tipped $4 and he seemed genuinely thankful. Could also be he picked our accent and wasn't expecting much....

 

[aussiemickeys]

kiwitravel,
You are probably right about the per case cost. Sorry, that hadn't even occurred to me with Supershuttle because I am so used to our own particular situation (which always involves at least 5 people & therefore at least 10 large suitcases. Therefore for us it is actually cheaper to pay the 20% rather than the per piece way).
I suppose what I am trying to advise really is to do all your comparisons including all tips as well & then factor in the convenience value between the Airport Bus, a shared van or a private van. I think it is a very individual choice as to what is best for each family.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[SamIAm21]

I would much rather stop at the Disney hotels and other Anaheim area hotels than get dragged all over the southern LA area with Super Shuttle. I hated Super Shuttle and won't ever try to disguise my experience. It was awful. Going to DLR, we made three different stops at people's homes and honestly a couple were in less than "safe" looking areas. I grew up in Chicago, I'm not naive and I know a dicey looking area when I see one. On the way home, we were picked up nearly four hours before our flight, we drove to Garden City to pick up one family, then the driver stopped for gas (Ho-Hum), then we drove all the way back to the DLR area (yep right past our hotel) to pick up other people in hotels around the parks. So, why did we have to be picked up so darn early only to drive around with the guy who drove back to the DLR area an hour later??

Super Shuttle stinks! There's also another van service called Prime Time, I would avoid them too! Just because Super Shuttle has a sign on it that says Disneyland Express, don't believe it! Take the DLR Express offered by Gray Line or get a private car!!

I spent nearly 2 hours in a van on my way to DLR and nearly 2 1/2 on the way back to LAX. That was HORRIBLE!

 

[tigergrad]

Thanks to all who have replied. Being that this will be our first trip to DLR, not frequent flyers are not familiar with the area at all, I think we will take the Disneyland Express. I think it will be easier for us in the long run. Only 10 more days and we're off. Thanks again.

 

[brenda1966]

If I were doing a round trip, I'd probably take DL Express. But keep in mind it might drop you off a block away from your hotel depending on where you're staying. When you see all those people standing on harbor at the bus stop with their luggage? They are waiting for DL Express!

Super Shuttle can be a drag as they will stop all over, but if you only need one-way transportation, they offer the best pricing I found. Also, after standing in the heat at DL I didn't really mind that we stopped at motels near Knotts Berry farm as I enjoyed the cool A/C and DD just took a nice little nap in the van. But with super shuttle you do need to bring your own car seat.

The are plusses and minuses to both.

 

[dalepool]

I used SUPER SHUTTLE one time and that was enough for me. The driver was going 15-20 MPH over the speed limit, drove like the devil was behind him, seat belts were not in wroking order (I did bring that to the drivers attention --I think-- but he completely ignored me and the other riders over this), in general driver was rude to everyone in the van.

The Disney Express-- the big bus--only picks up until I think 10:00PM. ( SNA=orange county airport). Not sure about super shuttle.

To fully understand how bad my experience with super shuttle was I bought a rount trip with super shuttle and ended up eatting the return part, as I made resrvations with Disney express for our return to Airport.

 

[vossjemi]

I've seen many people recommend karmel (www.karmel.com). I'm in process of getting a quote now. Also, I think there is a 15 or 20% discount link on the anaheim. org website.